As Edgar Allan Poe grew older, this illness became evident. Sixty-one percent of manic depressives abuse alcohol or drugs, and Edgar Allan Poe was a user of drugs (liquid opium) and alcohol. Sadly, Poe died at age 40 after being found semi-conscious and apparently drunk. No one really knows what caused Edgar Allan Poe's death. (Birch) Without Poe suffering from mood swings, he would not have created beautiful and touching poems. For example, The Raven: “Ah, I remember very well that it was in the dark month of December; And each dying ember created its ghost on the ground. » (Poe 887) This poem shows how Edgar Allan Poe used his melancholy to create the